The electronic workplace today is continuously changing by allowing employees to collaborate and have team meetings in various ways, including instant messaging and web conferencing. Instant messaging has become and will continue to be a prevalent way of managing communications at a workplace. Instant messaging chat session may improve operational efficiencies, as they allow network users to collaborate and communicate freely around the world with minimal or no cost.
Unfortunately, instant messaging sessions may be unwelcomed interruptions at certain times, as they require a user to shift focus away from the current task they are working on (which may adversely impact productivity). Additionally, the unwelcomed nature of these interruptions may be intensified when a user is executing other applications (e.g., web conferencing applications that share a desktop or Microsoft PowerPoint™ in a “presentation” mode), wherein the interruption may be visible to all participants involved.